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My Quick, Easy, and Fun Daycare Storytime Plan!

I was asked to visit the a.m. and p.m. classes of one of the preschools in town. I wanted to share what I do on these visits in the hopes that it will help any struggling youth librarians trying to think of something to do. A lot of librarians just do a normal storytime, but usually the teacher wants you to also discuss library cards, how to treat books, etc. and this is a really simple way to get all that in.

First I introduce myself. And then I use a storytelling method. Most days (and today) I use a scroll story version that I made of It Looks Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw. I'm sure that it looks like a really time-consuming thing to do, but what took the most time was measuring and cutting it. You could prep a whole bunch of blank scrolls if you just had enough fadeless paper.

Next I read a really interactive story. One that works perfectly with this audience is Can You Make a Scary Face? by Jan Thomas. The kids always get a huge kick out of this story. Giggles galore. Apparently the staff of the preschool will be sending some pictures from today to the newspaper. Hopefully they do not include a picture of me doing the chicken dance. I have to live in this town too, you know?

Next I ask the kids if they have been to our library. At least a few will say yes (even if they haven't been), so I will say "So if you've been to the library, you know that it's a big, brick building, but not all the kids in the world have a library in a building like we do" to introduce My Librarian is a Camel: How Books are Brought to Children Around the World. I love this book, but it is way too long for reading aloud. Instead, I put paper clips on the pages I want to show and show the kids how boats, bikes, camels, elephants, and donkeys are used to bring books to the far reaches of the world. The teachers especially like this. I find that starting with the interactive stories encourages the kids to contribute more comments and reactions to the library-related information than if I started with how to get a card, etc. I would love to see this book re-released with an updated design and better quality photographs someday.

Then I talk about how to get a card, how to take care of a book (I bring a puppy-chewed copy of Big Chickens to show them how to treat a book), etc. I end by telling the kids to beg their parents to take them to the library RIGHT NOW. And then I give them a pencil.

I like this set-up because it lets me cover everything I want to cover about visiting the library, but it is very low-key to put on. The stories do most of the heavy-lifting, so it is easier on the librarian than trying to do a whole storytime plus any extra information you might want to include. And it's shorter, which is a bonus because I try not to be away from the library for longer than necessary as someone has to cover for me. Also preschoolers = short attention spans. Hope this is helpful to someone and I would love to hear how others do quick preschool visits!

I like to do a lot of nursery rhymes with the parachute for a few reasons:Parents/kids are more likely to participate in activities where the content is already familiarI already know them so I don't have to learn a whole bunch of material at once (just being honest here)Easy for the families to replicate this activities at home with whatever props they might have. If they (or you!) don't have a parachute, a bed sheet or blanket can be substituted easily. Even a beach towel would work for one parent and one child to play together. This is my mean reason and I tried to hammer this in at all three programs I did the past two weeks! Parachute …

One of my favorite things to do in my library is create displays. I thought it might be helpful if I shared the calendar that I drew up to make sure I don't miss any of the "must-do" displays. It is so helpful if you can take people over to a seasonal display versus trying to look up in the catalog or find Easter books or whatever. I hope this helps any new librarians who might be overwhelmed by the process of marketing your collection!

As a general rule, I tend to keep displays up for about 3-4 weeks or if I run out of books all together. One tip I'd recommend if you have the space for multiple displays is to change one display in each space every week and rotate around the youth department like that. For example, one week you put up a new picture books display, then nonfiction, then YA/teen, etc. Don't forget to raid your CD and DVD collections for a multi-category display.

Here's one of my favorite parachute activities! I actually mentioned it a few months ago when talking about my summer parachute playtime but it's become a storytime staple since. We've been doing this here at my 2 and 3 year old storytimes and it's a great activity that I thought deserved its own post. I learned the song "Sleeping Bunnies" from Mary and I had the idea to adapt it to a parachute activity.

Here are the words:Sleeping BunniesSee the little bunnies sleeping til it's nearly noon. Come and let us gently wake them with a merry tune. Oh, how are still. Are they ill? Wake up soon. (Here I yell "WAKE UP BUNNIES!" and the kids shake the parachute.)